Burglar blackmailed former school governor for £8,000 over child abuse material on stolen memory stick

Andrew Brown, 61, is accused of possessing a number of pornographic images of children which came to light after his home was raided.
Andrew Brown, 61, is accused of possessing a number of pornographic images of children which came to light after his home was raided. Credit: Peterborough Telegraph/SWNS.com

A burglar tried to blackmail a former Church of England school governor for £8,000 after he found indecent images on a stolen memory stick, a court has been told. 

Andrew Brown, 61, is currently on trial accused of possessing child abuse material. 

The jury at Peterborough Crown Court has been told a memory stick allegedly containing indecent images was originally taken during a burglary on October 24, 2015. 

The thief, Ryan Penfold, later admitted to taking a number of memory sticks and is said to have told an associate on realising what they contained: "I do not want these, they contain child pornography, you can have them back." 

Thomas Brown, prosecuting, told the court Mr Brown and his wife had left their property around 10am. On returning three hours later, they discovered they had been burgled. 

The thieves had taken £300 in cash, some old phones and also a memory stick, he said adding: "At that stage no-one thought it was more than a burglary."

But days later a letter was sent to the defendant containing a blackmail note. 

The prosecutor said: "It contained three indecent images of children and a demand for £8,000 in cash - otherwise the person writing the note would expose Andrew Brown."

Brown, of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was chair of governors at the King's School in the county between September 2014 and November 2015.

It was founded by Henry VIII in 1541 and is now a Church of England academy. 

The note also contained a phone number, which allowed police to find Penfold, he added.  The thief - who later served a prison sentence for the burglary - told police he had stolen three memory sticks from the property and sold them on for £25. 

When Brown was questioned by police about the memory sticks, he said he knew nothing about how the images ended up on there and suggested the burglar had put them there.

Police also examined Brown's desktop computer, laptop, the memory stick and a separate hard drive, with a number of images discovered, the court heard. He maintains someone else must have put them on the devices.

Darren Ayling, head teacher at The King's School, previously said: "The school has been assured by Cambridgeshire police that these charges do not relate to any former or current pupils from The King's School."

Brown denies three counts of possessing indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images of children, two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images and one counts of possessing a prohibited image of a child. The trial continues.

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